Why We Do Filters

Why We Do Filters

Every serious photographer has a phobia.  It isn't that we lay awake at night worrying, but I expect we all get little chills from time to time when we slip and almost drop a camera or a lens.

High end cameras and lenses cost literally thousands of dollars.  The thought of dropping one and having it break is always unpleasant.  During the flight on day one (or maybe day two, the flight transcended the 2) those imagined nightmares came true.  It wasn't NETFLIX "Stranger Things" scary, but it's a guarantee that your heart will skip a beat (I know mind did)

If you fly very much you've heard the "Be careful when opening the overhead bins as items inside may have shifted" shpeal.  I guess it's true, stuff can move around and at some point during the flight the bin was opened and my camera bag came tumbling out.  I watched in slow motion as the bag turned end over end multiple times and finally crashed into the aircraft floor.

My exclamation was right out loud (but I don't think I yelled, I just said it).

"Well, that can't be good!"

I didn't even open the bag.  I just picked it up, put it back in the overhead and took my seat.   The next day in Buenos Aires I went through the bag and found bad news and good news.  The bad news was that one of my lenses was spilling out broken glass.

The good news was that it was the UV filter doing what we REALLY put them on the lenses for.  It took the shot and although the $30 filter was destroyed, it protected the much more expensive lens.